Nora Stephens, a cutthroat literary agent, agrees to go to Sunshine Falls, North Carolina for the month of August when her little sister, Libby, begs her for a sisters’ trip away. But instead of picnics in meadows, or run-ins with a handsome country doctor or bulging-forearmed bartender, Nora keeps bumping into Charlie Lastra, a bookish brooding editor from back in the city. It would be a meet-cute if not for the fact that they’ve met many times and it’s never been cute. But as they are thrown together again and again --- in a series of coincidences no editor worth their salt would allow --- what they discover might just unravel the carefully crafted stories they’ve written about themselves.

Nora Stephens, a cutthroat literary agent, agrees to go to Sunshine Falls, North Carolina for the month of August when her little sister, Libby, begs her for a sisters’ trip away. But instead of picnics in meadows, or run-ins with a handsome country doctor or bulging-forearmed bartender, Nora keeps bumping into Charlie Lastra, a bookish brooding editor from back in the city. It would be a meet-cute if not for the fact that they’ve met many times and it’s never been cute. But as they are thrown together again and again --- in a series of coincidences no editor worth their salt would allow --- what they discover might just unravel the carefully crafted stories they’ve written about themselves.

An insightful, delightful new novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of BEACH READ and PEOPLE WE MEET ON VACATION. 

One summer. Two rivals. A plot twist they didn't see coming...

Nora Stephens' life is books --- she’s read them all --- and she is not that type of heroine. Not the plucky one, not the laidback dream girl and especially not the sweetheart. In fact, the only people Nora is a heroine for are her clients, for whom she lands enormous deals as a cutthroat literary agent, and her beloved little sister, Libby.

Which is why she agrees to go to Sunshine Falls, North Carolina for the month of August when Libby begs her for a sisters’ trip away --- with visions of a small town transformation for Nora, who she’s convinced needs to become the heroine in her own story. But instead of picnics in meadows, or run-ins with a handsome country doctor or bulging-forearmed bartender, Nora keeps bumping into Charlie Lastra, a bookish brooding editor from back in the city. It would be a meet-cute if not for the fact that they’ve met many times and it’s never been cute.

If Nora knows she’s not an ideal heroine, Charlie knows he’s nobody’s hero, but as they are thrown together again and again --- in a series of coincidences no editor worth their salt would allow --- what they discover might just unravel the carefully crafted stories they’ve written about themselves.

Audiobook available, read by Julia Whelan

A family vacation turns into a nightmare for Michael Hart when he discovers that his wife, Natalie, and their two children have disappeared from their New York City hotel room. Horrified, he fears they’ve been kidnapped. Michael’s frantic search to find them takes a shocking turn when he discovers that Natalie appears to have left quite willingly, taking their children with her. The police want to know why, and so does Michael. But there may be a reason why Natalie ran, something Michael can’t tell the police --- the truth about his past. While untangling his deceptions might be the key to locating Natalie, Michael knows it also could be his undoing. To find his wife, he must now turn to the one person capable of exposing all that he’s been hiding.

A family vacation turns into a nightmare for Michael Hart when he discovers that his wife, Natalie, and their two children have disappeared from their New York City hotel room. Horrified, he fears they’ve been kidnapped. Michael’s frantic search to find them takes a shocking turn when he discovers that Natalie appears to have left quite willingly, taking their children with her. The police want to know why, and so does Michael. But there may be a reason why Natalie ran, something Michael can’t tell the police --- the truth about his past. While untangling his deceptions might be the key to locating Natalie, Michael knows it also could be his undoing. To find his wife, he must now turn to the one person capable of exposing all that he’s been hiding.

When a woman disappears with her two children, one husband will do anything to find them --- even confront the secrets of his own past --- in D.J. Palmer's MY WIFE IS MISSING, a twisty thriller from the author of THE NEW HUSBAND.

A family vacation turns into a nightmare for Michael Hart when he discovers his wife and two children have disappeared from their New York City hotel room. Horrified, he fears they’ve been kidnapped. Michael’s frantic search to find them takes a shocking turn when he discovers that his wife, Natalie, appears to have left quite willingly, taking their children with her. The police want to know why, and so does Michael. But there may be a reason why Natalie ran, something Michael can’t tell the police --- the truth about his past. 

While untangling his deceptions might be the key to locating Natalie, Michael knows it could also be his undoing. To find his wife, he must now turn to the one person capable of exposing all that he’s been hiding. Natalie thinks she has Michael all figured out and has hatched a plan to escape from him permanently. One detail, though, threatens to derail her efforts: sleep --- or more accurately, the lack of it. Since the moment the shocking revelations about her husband came to light, Natalie’s insomnia has worsened to the point that she now suffers from delusions. 

Are her fears about Michael valid --- or a symptom of her condition? With her children’s lives at risk, the stakes for Natalie could not be higher. On her own, running low on energy and resources, avoiding increasingly close calls with Michael --- who is on the hunt and closing in fast --- Natalie needs someone to turn to for help. But who can she trust when she can’t even trust herself?

Audiobook available, read by Karissa Vacker

For millennia, the location of the Nile River’s headwaters was shrouded in mystery. In the 19th century, there was a frenzy of interest in ancient Egypt. At the same time, European powers sent off waves of explorations intended to map the unknown corners of the globe --- and extend their colonial empires. Richard Burton and John Hanning Speke were sent by the Royal Geographical Society to claim the prize for England. Burton spoke 29 languages and was a decorated soldier. Speke was a young aristocrat and Army officer determined to make his mark. From the start the two men clashed. They would endure tremendous hardships, illness and constant setbacks.

For millennia, the location of the Nile River’s headwaters was shrouded in mystery. In the 19th century, there was a frenzy of interest in ancient Egypt. At the same time, European powers sent off waves of explorations intended to map the unknown corners of the globe --- and extend their colonial empires. Richard Burton and John Hanning Speke were sent by the Royal Geographical Society to claim the prize for England. Burton spoke 29 languages and was a decorated soldier. Speke was a young aristocrat and Army officer determined to make his mark. From the start the two men clashed. They would endure tremendous hardships, illness and constant setbacks.

The harrowing story of one of the great feats of exploration of all time and its complicated legacy --- from the New York Times bestselling author of THE RIVER OF DOUBT and DESTINY OF THE REPUBLIC. 

For millennia the location of the Nile River’s headwaters was shrouded in mystery. In the 19th century, there was a frenzy of interest in ancient Egypt. At the same time, European powers sent off waves of explorations intended to map the unknown corners of the globe --- and extend their colonial empires.

Richard Burton and John Hanning Speke were sent by the Royal Geographical Society to claim the prize for England. Burton spoke 29 languages, and was a decorated soldier. He was also mercurial, subtle and an iconoclastic atheist. Speke was a young aristocrat and Army officer determined to make his mark, passionate about hunting, Burton’s opposite in temperament and beliefs.

From the start the two men clashed. They would endure tremendous hardships, illness and constant setbacks. Two years in, deep in the African interior, Burton became too sick to press on, but Speke did, and claimed he found the source in a great lake that he christened Lake Victoria. When they returned to England, Speke rushed to take credit, disparaging Burton. Burton disputed his claim and Speke launched another expedition to Africa to prove it. The two became venomous enemies, with the public siding with the more charismatic Burton, to Speke’s great envy. The day before they were to publicly debate, Speke shot himself.

Yet there was a third man on both expeditions, his name obscured by imperial annals, whose exploits were even more extraordinary. This was Sidi Mubarak Bombay, who was enslaved and shipped from his home village in East Africa to India. When the man who purchased him died, he made his way into the local Sultan’s army, and eventually traveled back to Africa, where he used his resourcefulness, linguistic prowess and raw courage to forge a living as a guide. Without Bombay and men like him, who led, carried, and protected the expedition, neither Englishman would have come close to the headwaters of the Nile, or perhaps even survived.

In RIVER OF THE GODS, Candice Millard has written another peerless story of courage and adventure, set against the backdrop of the race to exploit Africa by the colonial powers.

Audiobook available, read by Paul Michael

Kim Stanley Robinson first ventured into the Sierra Nevada mountains during the summer of 1973. He returned from that encounter a changed man, awed by a landscape that made him feel as if he were simultaneously strolling through an art museum and scrambling on a jungle gym like an energized child. He has returned to the mountains throughout his life --- more than a hundred trips --- and has gathered a vast store of knowledge about them. THE HIGH SIERRA is his lavish celebration of this exceptional place and an exploration of what makes this span of mountains one of the most compelling places on Earth.

Kim Stanley Robinson first ventured into the Sierra Nevada mountains during the summer of 1973. He returned from that encounter a changed man, awed by a landscape that made him feel as if he were simultaneously strolling through an art museum and scrambling on a jungle gym like an energized child. He has returned to the mountains throughout his life --- more than a hundred trips --- and has gathered a vast store of knowledge about them. THE HIGH SIERRA is his lavish celebration of this exceptional place and an exploration of what makes this span of mountains one of the most compelling places on Earth.

A “sublime” and “radically original” exploration of the Sierra Nevadas, the best mountains on Earth for hiking and camping, from New York Times bestselling novelist Kim Stanley Robinson (Bill McKibben, Gary Snyder).

Kim Stanley Robinson first ventured into the Sierra Nevada mountains during the summer of 1973. He returned from that encounter a changed man, awed by a landscape that made him feel as if he were simultaneously strolling through an art museum and scrambling on a jungle gym like an energized child. He has returned to the mountains throughout his life --- more than a hundred trips --- and has gathered a vast store of knowledge about them. THE HIGH SIERRA is his lavish celebration of this exceptional place and an exploration of what makes this span of mountains one of the most compelling places on Earth.

Over the course of a vivid and dramatic narrative, Robinson describes the geological forces that shaped the Sierras and the history of its exploration, going back to the indigenous peoples who made it home and whose traces can still be found today. He celebrates the people whose ideas and actions protected the High Sierra for future generations. He describes uniquely beautiful hikes and the trails to be avoided. Robinson’s own life-altering events, defining relationships and unforgettable adventures form the narrative’s spine. And he illuminates the human communion with the wild and with the sublime, including the personal growth that only seems to come from time spent outdoors.

THE HIGH SIERRA is a gorgeous, absorbing immersion in a place, born out of a desire to understand and share one of the greatest rapture-inducing experiences our planet offers. Packed with maps, gear advice, more than 100 breathtaking photos and much more, it will inspire veteran hikers, casual walkers and travel readers to prepare for a magnificent adventure.

Audiobook available, read by Kim Stanley Robinson

For much of her life, Sally Holt has been mystified by the things her older sister, Kathy, seems to have been born knowing. Kathy has answers for all of Sally’s questions about life, love and Billy Barnes, a rising senior and local basketball star who mans the concession stand at the town pool. The girls have been fascinated by Billy ever since he jumped off the roof in elementary school, but Billy has never shown much interest in them until the summer before Sally begins eighth grade. Sally spends much of that summer at the pool, watching in confusion and excitement as her sister falls deeper in love with Billy --- until a tragedy leaves Sally’s life forever intertwined with his.

For much of her life, Sally Holt has been mystified by the things her older sister, Kathy, seems to have been born knowing. Kathy has answers for all of Sally’s questions about life, love and Billy Barnes, a rising senior and local basketball star who mans the concession stand at the town pool. The girls have been fascinated by Billy ever since he jumped off the roof in elementary school, but Billy has never shown much interest in them until the summer before Sally begins eighth grade. Sally spends much of that summer at the pool, watching in confusion and excitement as her sister falls deeper in love with Billy --- until a tragedy leaves Sally’s life forever intertwined with his.

From Alison Espach, author of the New York Times Editor’s Choice novel THE ADULTS, comes a dazzlingly unconventional love story for readers of ASK AGAIN, YES and TELL THE WOLVES I'M HOME.

For much of her life, Sally Holt has been mystified by the things her older sister, Kathy, seems to have been born knowing. Kathy has answers for all of Sally’s questions about life, love and Billy Barnes, a rising senior and local basketball star who mans the concession stand at the town pool. The girls have been fascinated by Billy ever since he jumped off the roof in elementary school, but Billy has never shown much interest in them until the summer before Sally begins eighth grade. By then, their mutual infatuation with Billy is one of the few things the increasingly different sisters have in common. Sally spends much of that summer at the pool, watching in confusion and excitement as her sister falls deeper in love with Billy --- until a tragedy leaves Sally’s life forever intertwined with his. 

Opening in the early '90s and charting almost two decades of shared history and missed connections, NOTES ON YOUR SUDDEN DISAPPERANCE is both a breathtaking love story about two broken people who are unexplainably, inconveniently drawn to each other and a wryly astute coming-of-age tale brimming with unexpected moments of joy.

Audiobook available, read by Jesse Vilinsky

Kagen Vale is the trusted and feared captain of the palace guard, charged with protection of the royal children of the Silver Empire. But one night, Kagen is drugged and the entire imperial family is killed, leaving the empire in ruins. Haunted and broken, Kagen is abandoned by his gods and damned forever. He becomes a wanderer, trying to take down as many of his enemies as possible while plotting to assassinate the usurper, the deadly Witch-king of Hakkia. While all around him, magic --- long banished from the world --- returns in strange and terrifying ways. To exact his vengeance, Kagen must venture into strange lands, battle bizarre and terrifying creatures, and gather allies for a suicide mission into the heart of the Witch-king’s empire.

Kagen Vale is the trusted and feared captain of the palace guard, charged with protection of the royal children of the Silver Empire. But one night, Kagen is drugged and the entire imperial family is killed, leaving the empire in ruins. Haunted and broken, Kagen is abandoned by his gods and damned forever. He becomes a wanderer, trying to take down as many of his enemies as possible while plotting to assassinate the usurper, the deadly Witch-king of Hakkia. While all around him, magic --- long banished from the world --- returns in strange and terrifying ways. To exact his vengeance, Kagen must venture into strange lands, battle bizarre and terrifying creatures, and gather allies for a suicide mission into the heart of the Witch-king’s empire.

KAGEN THE DAMNED marks the first installment of an exciting new series of dark epic fantasy novels from bestselling author Jonathan Maberry.

Sworn by Oath
Kagen Vale is the trusted and feared captain of the palace guard, charged with protection of the royal children of the Silver Empire. But one night, Kagen is drugged and the entire imperial family is killed, leaving the empire in ruins.

Abandoned by the Gods
Haunted and broken, Kagen is abandoned by his gods and damned forever. He becomes a wanderer, trying to take down as many of his enemies as possible while plotting to assassinate the usurper, the deadly Witch-king of Hakkia. While all around him, magic --- long banished from the world --- returns in strange and terrifying ways.

Fueled by Rage
To exact his vengeance, Kagen must venture into strange lands, battle bizarre and terrifying creatures, and gather allies for a suicide mission into the heart of the Witch-king’s empire.

Kings and gods will fear him.

Kagen the Damned.

Audiobook available, read by Ray Porter

Mona Ellison is living a dream life. But when her son becomes entangled with the wrong crowd, ditches college plans and runs away from home for a life of partying, Mona is upset. He'll be back as soon as his money runs dry. At least that's what she tells her friends. Only she suspects something different. Then the police knock on Mona's door. A young girl has turned up dead, and her missing son is the prime suspect. Determined to reunite with her son and prove his innocence, Mona embarks on a search that puts her on a twisty trail of social media clues and a rollercoaster ride of lies and betrayal until she lands on a truth that changes her perception of everything.

Mona Ellison is living a dream life. But when her son becomes entangled with the wrong crowd, ditches college plans and runs away from home for a life of partying, Mona is upset. He'll be back as soon as his money runs dry. At least that's what she tells her friends. Only she suspects something different. Then the police knock on Mona's door. A young girl has turned up dead, and her missing son is the prime suspect. Determined to reunite with her son and prove his innocence, Mona embarks on a search that puts her on a twisty trail of social media clues and a rollercoaster ride of lies and betrayal until she lands on a truth that changes her perception of everything.

Unrelenting psychological suspense with a wicked twist...

Mona Ellison is living a dream life. A successful husband, loving son, beautiful home, an amazing group of friends...you could say that everything is perfect. 

Until it isn't.

When her son becomes entangled with the wrong crowd, ditches college plans and runs away from home for a life of partying, Mona is upset. But boys will be boys, right? He'll be back as soon as his money runs dry. At least that's what she tells her friends. 

Only she suspects something different.  

Then the police knock on Mona's door. A young girl has turned up dead, and her missing son is the prime suspect. 

Determined to reunite with her son and prove his innocence, Mona embarks on a search that puts her on a twisty trail of social media clues and a rollercoaster ride of lies and betrayal until she lands on a truth that changes her perception of everything. Now, the only thing Mona knows is that she can't trust anyone...not even herself. 

Suburban paranoia at its best...

Iris Chapel and her five elegant sisters, all of them heiresses to the Chapel firearms fortune, live cloistered in a lavish Victorian mansion. Neglected by both a distant, workaholic father and a mentally troubled mother --- who believes their home is haunted by the victims of Chapel weapons --- the sisters have grown up with only each other for company. They long to escape the eerie fairy tale of their childhood and move forward into the modern world, but for young women in 1950s Connecticut, the only way out is through marriage. Yet it soon becomes clear that for the Chapel sisters, marriage equals death. When the eldest sister walks down the aisle, tragedy strikes. This is just the beginning of a chain of disasters that will make each woman wonder if true love will kill her, too.

Iris Chapel and her five elegant sisters, all of them heiresses to the Chapel firearms fortune, live cloistered in a lavish Victorian mansion. Neglected by both a distant, workaholic father and a mentally troubled mother --- who believes their home is haunted by the victims of Chapel weapons --- the sisters have grown up with only each other for company. They long to escape the eerie fairy tale of their childhood and move forward into the modern world, but for young women in 1950s Connecticut, the only way out is through marriage. Yet it soon becomes clear that for the Chapel sisters, marriage equals death. When the eldest sister walks down the aisle, tragedy strikes. This is just the beginning of a chain of disasters that will make each woman wonder if true love will kill her, too.

The highly anticipated second novel from Sarai Walker, following her “slyly subversive” (EW) cult-hit DIETLAND --- a feminist gothic about the lone survivor of a cursed family of sisters, whose time may finally be up.

IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN THE FIRST DAY OF THE REST OF THEIR LIVES.

INSTEAD IT WAS THE LAST.

Iris Chapel and her five elegant sisters, all of them heiresses to the Chapel firearms fortune, live cloistered in a lavish Victorian mansion. Neglected by both a distant, workaholic father and a mentally troubled mother --- who believes their home is haunted by the victims of Chapel weapons --- the sisters have grown up with only each other for company. They long to escape the eerie fairy tale of their childhood and move forward into the modern world, but for young women in 1950s Connecticut, the only way out is through marriage.

Yet it soon becomes clear that for the Chapel sisters, marriage equals death. 

When the eldest sister walks down the aisle, tragedy strikes. The bride dies mysteriously the very next day, leaving her family and the town in shock. But this is just the beginning of a chain of disasters that will make each woman wonder if true love will kill her, too. Only Iris, the second-youngest, finds a way to escape. But can she outrun the family curse forever?

Sarai Walker, the acclaimed author of the cult-hit novel DIETLAND, building off the Gothic tradition of Shirley Jackson, brings to life this riveting, deliciously twisted feminist tale, a gorgeous and provocative page-turner about the legacy of male power and the cost of female freedom.

Audiobook available, read by January LaVoy